This line — “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” — comes from the U.S. Navy SEALs, who use it to train soldiers in high-pressure environments. The lesson is deceptively simple: when you rush, you make mistakes that cost you time; when you move with control and precision, you actually finish faster.

It’s a mindset I’ve come to appreciate deeply. For years, I believed speed equaled success. I measured my efficiency by how quickly I could move from problem to solution. But with time (and a few lessons learned the hard way), I realized that speed without clarity is just motion — not progress.

This philosophy is making a quiet comeback in the world of AI and prompting large language models (LLMs). People are discovering that the way you frame a prompt determines the quality of the outcome. When you rush to ask vague questions, the LLM “hallucinates” — it fills in gaps with guesswork. But when you take a moment to slow down, clarify your intent, and think through your instruction, the response becomes remarkably precise.

In a strange way, prompting an LLM is teaching humans to think before they speak — to structure their thoughts, articulate clearly, and embrace the pause. It’s the same principle the SEALs discovered decades ago: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

For me, this mindset has changed how I handle decisions, communication, and even how I learn. I no longer equate pace with productivity. Instead, I value rhythm — the steady, composed flow that comes from understanding before acting. When I slow down, I make fewer corrections later. When I move smoothly, I move confidently. And that confidence makes everything faster in the long run.

The irony is beautiful: by embracing slowness, I’ve become more effective. The world may keep spinning faster, but I’ve learned that clarity is the real speed.